


Home Is Where You Are

by PurrfectCatastrophe



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, It's subtly implied that Nagisa knows, M/M, Night time talks, heart to heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 07:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1542230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurrfectCatastrophe/pseuds/PurrfectCatastrophe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa is worried about if Rei will leave them for the track team at some point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Is Where You Are

**Author's Note:**

> Little to no editing done. Which will props haunt me later but whatever....

“Do you ever miss it?”

That was the first thing Nagisa said to Rei after ten minutes of lying next to each other in silence. They were supposed to be asleep like the rest of their friends but when Rei woke to use the bathroom only to find Nagisa on the patio staring at the stars priorities shifted. Rei hadn’t said anything when he found him like that. Just lowered himself down and laid next to his best friend. He hadn’t expected any conversation of sorts so when Nagisa spoke he jumped a bit. Rei titled his head so he could see his friend better except Nagisa was still staring at the sky.

“Miss what?” Rei asks surprised at the steadiness in his voice after being quiet for so long.

It was silent for a long time and Rei was afraid he had just imagined Nagisa saying anything until the blonde finally spoke again.

“Being on the Track team.”

Oh.

Rei went back to looking at the stars and contemplated the question. Did he miss the track team? Sure the familiarity of it was comforting and his calculations worked better there than in swimming. Plus he felt more at home running and pole vaulting than swimming in a pool. Rei did miss that feeling of being in control. So that’s what he told Nagisa.

It was quiet again as Nagisa digested this new information. Rei had to be completely honest with Nagisa even if the truth might hurt. If he lied what was the point? Nagisa obviously had something on his mind and the truth would help settle it. So Rei waited patiently for Nagisa to sort out his thoughts and talk again.

“Would you ever go back?”

For some reason that question caught him off guard even though he was expecting it. Rei brought a hand up to his face as he thought about this. 

In a sense his life was much more clear cut and easier before he joined (more like was forced into) the swim club. Then he learned what it felt like to work as a team to achieve the same goal. In Track he was like a one man team and his only goal was to do the better than his teammates. Thanks to the swim team he also knew what it felt like to have teammates seek out your company instead of being “the weird guy who muttered to himself”. Without realizing it the Swim Club had become a big part of his life. Now that this was apparent to him he could only think one thing.

It felt amazing.

“No I don’t think I would go back.” Rei answers truthfully. Nagisa rolls over to stare at him with wide eyes as if he expected a different answer.

“Why?”

Why indeed? It’d be so easy to just say because he enjoyed feeling like a part of a team or something about it being the most logical reason. Rei knew that wouldn’t be an optimal answer to give Nagisa though. No he couldn’t return to the track team because it wouldn’t feel the same any longer. Rei had grown accustomed to warm green eyes with a smile to match, hearing the splash of water before Kou could finish her training briefing, words of encouragement from their manager who should have snapped by now, those odd literary quotes he didn’t quite understand, and most importantly warm hugs matched with a bright smile that made his heart race wildly. 

Okay fine for the real reason he wouldn’t leave was because then Nagisa wouldn’t be there. Can you really blame him? Nagisa just had that charm about him that made it all worthwhile. He had forced his way into Rei’s life and it was hard to think of a life without him in it now. Yes Rei had fallen in love but there was no way he could say that out loud. So he settled for the second best option.

“Because you said you’d take responsibility and if I went back to Track you’d have to follow me and I don’t think you could even clear a hurdle. So it seems as though I’m yours to keep.” Rei jokes as he smiles softly at his friend.

Nagisa stares at him with that same star struck expression before smiling so brightly that the stars seem to dim in its presence. Nagisa scoots even closer to and takes Rei’s hand in his own. He slips his finger in-between Rei’s and squeezes gently before laying his head on Rei’s chest and looking back up at the stars.

“Maybe I’d be good at pole vaulting instead?” Nagisa replies with a wink. Rei rolls his eyes at that and goes back to staring at the stars to. 

When Rei wakes the next morning Nagisa has tangled himself in his arms. The blonde is mumbling in his sleep while nuzzling Rei’s chest and still holding his hand. Rei rests his head gently on Nagisa’s and sighs happily. Despite still being out on the patio in the chill of the early morning Rei feels as if he’s wrapped in a warm blanket.

Yeah he’s definitely not leaving this for the track team.

**Author's Note:**

> How much do you want to be that the plot of Season 2 will be Rei having to choose between Track or the Swim club???


End file.
